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Before I was born and during the depression years Daddy worked building U.S. Highway 84. I listened to many stories about the building of the bridges and I'm still amazed. Then when I was a little girl Daddy was a farmer. He had the biggest and meanest mules of anybody in the community, butt that didn't bother me much because I just had to led them home in the afternoon when he was finished working. I can't tell you how upset this made my mother! ! and she would catch me every time. I just stayed in trouble about that. In about 1950 Daddy stopped farming and became a Carpenter. He was a very skilled craftsman and enjoyed much success in his work. He built us a home in 1959. By that time all of my brothers had left home and he put me to work helping him. They came back to help when he needed them and I was very happy to see them. It wasn't to bad until it was time to cover the roof and even that was not so bad while I was up there walking around but when it was time to come down I just couldn't step onto that ladder. I think that was the beginning of much of the success in my life as a seamstress. Just like building with wood, fabric must be measured and cut correctly or no matter what you do it just is not going to work. Ask me how I know!

Daddy was a very wise man. As is true of all teenagers I often needed advise. I would present my problem and hope that he would just tell me what he thought I should do about it. However, nothing was ever that simple. His answer was ALWAYS, well, what do you think you should do about this. If I said I didn't know, that is why I'm asking you,-- he would always say he needed a little time to think about it. He would also tell me to think about it and let him know what I decided. Well, I am still waiting on him to tell me what he thought. If I didn't give him the answer he expected, he would tell me he didn't think that would work, and that I needed to think about it a little more. Sometimes this could go on for days and I can tell you I learned a little about frustration because I thought one of the jobs of being a parent was just telling the kids what to do. That theory seemed to work well enough in getting all the chores done, and I was convinced that this idea would keep me out of trouble. I'm still trying to figure out why I was never clever enough to pull it off.

Daddy had to be a complex man because when my older brothers talk about their learning experiences it seems they were quiet often applied with leather to the seat of the pants. My brothers sure had an unusual method of getting some attention when they were young but somewhere along the way they must have got things figured out because they grew up to be great people, much like their father.

Leon had many friends and was well regarded by his neighbors. He never had anything bad to say about anybody. He enjoyed his family and until he was in his late 60's retained his good health and was able to keep pace with his children.

More About JAMES LEON THOMLEY:

Burial: Christian Home Church of Christ Wicksburg, Alabama Occupation: Farmer/Carpenter

Religion: A Christian

Social Security Number: 255-22-2343